Dehydration is a condition in which water in a living body decreases below the individual's normal functioning level. Dehydration often occurs when an individual is exercising for extended periods of time, intakes little or no water, or the temperature rises to a point where an individual cannot excrete enough sweat to maintain their normal body temperature. Persons that regularly exert themselves in low humidity and/or high temperature conditions and/or for extended periods of time are prone to experience dehydration or dehydration symptoms. Elderly persons and children are also especially prone to experience dehydration or dehydration symptoms.
In less severe cases of dehydration, an individual's ability to perform tasks will begin to deteriorate. For example, in the case of long distance endurance athletes, an individual that becomes dehydrated by loss of as little as 2% body weight may begin to have their performance impaired. Losses in excess of 5% of body weight can decrease the capacity of an individual to perform a task by as much as 30%.
Another group of people in danger of dehydration are individuals with dysentery. Dysentery is a gastrointestinal disorder characterized by inflammation of the intestines, particularly the colon. Diarrhea and vomiting are typical side effects of patients with dysentery, especially in the case of small children. As dysentery patients suffer from diarrhea and vomiting they are unable to maintain a proper hydration level, causing them to become dehydrated. Such a dehydrated state exasperates the patient's condition, causing their health to further deteriorate and prolong recovery time.
If a dehydrated individual continues untreated, the effects of dehydration will progressively become worse until the individual is in a serious dehydrated condition. Typically when at least one third of the water in a living body is lost, the body temperature regulation ceases to function correctly. This dysfunction causes the body temperature to increase, which causes the water level in the living body to be further reduced and thus the body enters an uncontrolled spiral. As the body becomes more dehydrated, illnesses such as heat cramping, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, desert syndrome, and heatstroke can occur. In severe cases of dehydration organs do not function properly or may fail.
Thus, it is desirable that an individual's hydration level is monitored regularly and any dehydration is detected in the early stages before an individual's performance levels are impacted or they reach a serious dehydration condition. However, people are often not aware of dehydration symptoms at early stages, based only on self-awareness. As a result, dehydration symptoms are left untreated until an individual feels dizzy or weak and thus realizes something is wrong. By the time an individual feels dizzy or weak they are already in a serious dehydration condition. When an individual reaches a serious dehydration condition, serious medical treatment may be required and the window to treat the individual may become severely shortened.